WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Sophomore Haile Hicks (Jefferson, N.H.) of the Saint Anselm College softball team fired a six-inning no-hitter on Thursday, pitching the Hawks past the University of Minnesota-Crookston by an 11-0 final score.
Saint Anselm improves to 4-6 on the year while Minnesota-Crookston, who plays in the competitive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), drops to 8-12 overall. The Hawks return to action on Friday with games against Slippery Rock (9 a.m.) and Minot State (11:15 a.m.) at the Diamondplex.
Across her last two games in the circle, Hicks has allowed just one hit (a bloop single to left field against Shepherd) across 13 innings of work, pitching the Hawks to back-to-back shutout victories against the Rams (Mar. 15) and the Golden Eagles on Thursday.
Dating back to Mar. 13 against Saint Thomas Aquinas, Hicks has fanned 20 batters and allowed just one earned run in 20 innings. On the season, she has thrown 36-and-two-thirds innings, conceding just 22 hits and nine earned runs while striking out 25.
Sophomore Gracie O'Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and senior Bailey Cain (Wellington, Fla.) reached base in each of their four plate appearances, collecting three hits, scoring three runs and drawing a walk. Cain led the team with three runs batted in and extended her season-high hitting streak to six games while freshman Ava Caputo (Waterford, N.Y.) drove in two runs, matching the RBI production of junior Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.).
O'Hara scored the game's first run, coming across to score on a fielding miscue in the top of the first inning. Caputo picked up an RBI later in the stanza, singling to the first baseman to up the Hawks lead to 2-0. The third run of the day came in the top of the second inning as a sacrifice fly by Fitzpatrick drove in junior Jill Chelton (Carlisle, Mass.), whose lead-off walk set the tone for the inning.
Three more runs came around to score in the top of the fourth inning. An RBI groundout by Fitzpatrick, an RBI single by Cain and an RBI triple by senior Bre Klaiber (Ironton, Ohio) created a 6-0 lead for Saint Anselm.
A huge five-run inning for the Hawks in the top of the sixth allowed the Hawks to win via run-rule in six innings. Cain reached a career-high mark with three hits, stroking a two-run double before Caputo picked up another sacrifice fly. A two-run error by the Golden Eagles created the final score of 11-0.
Each member of the Saint Anselm starting lineup reached base in the 11-run victory and the Hawks played errorless defense behind Hicks, bolstering the no-hitter. Hicks walked just one batter, her only baserunner of the game.
The pitching duo for Minnesota-Crookston allowed 13 hits to Saint Anselm and nine earned runs.
